From front to back: Robin Longton, Darren Wilkinson and Managing Director Alan Parkinson
Leading signs and graphics provider, Signs Express (Central Lancashire), expands their management team to enable continued expansion of the established sign company.
In a sector that has been particularly hard hit by the current economic climate, the Preston based sign company, Signs Express, has continued to thrive. Managing Director Alan Parkinson has been keen to reinvest in machinery and staff and it’s this forward thinking approach which has lead to the appointment of two new directors from within the business.
An established workforce with specialist skills, Alan has decided to secure the success of the business by promoting two senior managers to the board. The promotions follow the expansion of the business to cover areas such as Blackpool and Blackburn as well as continuing to build on their established customer base in Preston and the surrounding areas.
Both Robin Longton and Darren Wilkinson have been employed by the company for some time and take on the roles of Sales & Marketing Director and Production and Installation director respectively.
Managing Director Alan Parkinson explains, “It makes sound commercial sense to promote from within the workforce. We know we’re appointing trusted, reliable directors and it prevents us losing key staff members who may be tempted to look elsewhere to climb the career ladder.”
“What’s more, they’ve proven that expansion can be achieved with a little imagination and strategic thinking – especially in the tough economic circumstances and I have been delighted with their loyalty, enthusiasm and determination to continue to push the business forward to be one of the largest sign companies in the North West.”
Robin, 34 of Longridge joined the company in 1997 and has grown from within the company starting as production assistant, showing a flair for sales and marketing which has lead ultimately to his progression through to Sales & Marketing Director.
He explains “This is a fantastic opportunity to play a bigger part in the company’s success. Signs Express is a local company, dealing with local customers but with the backing of a national presence to compete on a bigger stage. It’s great to be in a position to use my experience of the company and its customer base to move forward.”
Darren 33, who hails from Longton started his career at the company in 2000 as a sign fabricator and is now Production and Installation Director. “I’m particularly proud to have been appointed to the board. It shows that the last 10 or 11 years hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed, and it’s a great motivation – we strive to produce high quality signs and graphics for a variety of applications and often provide on-site installation. This appointment shows there is a strong focus on quality and workmanship within the company and that we expect only the highest standards from our team of sign makers.
Alan concludes “When you have a great team around you who are knowledgeable and motivated to succeed a business will succeed and we have an aggressive growth plan over the next 12 months which is fully supported by Robin and Darren. I would like to congratulate them on their promotion and we are all very excited about the businesses future.”
Signs Express (Central Lancashire) provides a wide range of signs and graphics from their custom sign manufacturing facility at Rough Hey Industrial Estate in Preston. With a wide range of in-house equipment, Signs Express boasts an impressive signs and graphics range including interior and exterior signs, vehicle graphics, banners, exhibition displays. They are also specialists in the manufacture of Braille and tactile signs for health and safety and way-finding in particular.
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